More aid balances decrease in pupils

By Lauren Radomski (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, July 2, 2007

Minnesota’s basic aid payments to Fergus Falls public schools will barely change this year, despite a new state law designed to increase the state’s contribution to K-12 education.

Decreased enrollment will nearly balance out increased payments the state will make for each enrolled student under a law that took effect July 1.

The state distributes aid according to adjusted marginal cost pupil unit (AMCPU), said Mark Masten, the Fergus Falls district’s business manager.

“It is not the same as enrollment because revenue is adjusted for grade level,” he said. “In other words, a secondary student is worth 1.3 pupil units and generates more revenue than an elementary student at 1.060.”

But because the Fergus Falls school district will enroll fewer students in coming years and thus have fewer pupil units, it will receive less funding.

Last year the district received about $14.9 million for its roughly 3,000 pupil units. While the new law will increase the amount per pupil unit by 2 percent next year and 1 percent the following year, decreasing enrollment means the Fergus Falls district will only get .3 percent more state aid next year. The following year, district revenue will decrease by nearly 2.5 percent.

“A good analogy to this is a worker (who) receives an increase in their hourly rate of pay, but also has their hours cut, leaving them with the same or less net pay to live with,” Masten said.

The state funding increases prevented more budget cuts than there would have been otherwise, Masten said. But even with the additional funding, the school district cut $1.8 million from its budget this spring.

Low birth rates and fewer younger families finding work in the area contribute to enrollment decreases, Masten said.

Also, families that cannot afford local housing or prefer to live on a lake commute to Fergus Falls for work but place their students in schools closer to home.